Normally a motor-vehicle safety apparatus has a roller housing at the rear of the rear-seat back of a motor vehicle. A safety apparatus constituted as a safety net can be pulled out into a vertical position so that it extends upward from the upper edge of the rear seat back and closes the space up to the vehicle roof.
In this manner, if for example the vehicle is braked suddenly, any objects in the cargo space are prevented from being projected from the cargo space into the passenger compartment.
In order to secure a holder rod mounted at the free end of the safety net, the rod ends are normally hung in seats on the sides of the motor vehicle. It is fairly difficult to engage the fittings at the ends into, for instance, keyhole-shaped mounts. Since the user is normally well forward and bent over when doing this maneuver and the pulled-out net is under some tension by a spring drive, such a job is so uncomfortable and laborious that one often dispenses with the safety net altogether, leading to a dangerous situation for the passengers.
German 196 50 768 describes a safety system where a latch device is provided that prevents the safety net, once unwound, from winding back up again on the shaft. The user thus does not have to deal with the return force of the spring drive on the rod and can more easily fit it to the hanger seats.
Another principle is pursued by the applicant in a holding and releasing system according to German 199 49 417. Here rod ends are secured in sockets by a releasable push-type connector. In addition there is a flared seat whose floor has a latch element with which a complementary latch element of the rod end can interact. The rod end is provided with a retaining element which is movable on the rod end and urged into a latched position by a spring.